unintentional

un·in·tent·ion·al
U1N1I1N1T1E1N1T1I1O1N1A1L1
UK/ˌʌnɪnˈtɛnʃn̩(ə)l/UK[ˌʌnɪnˈtʰɛnʃənɫ̩]Canada, US/ˌʌnɪnˈtɛn(t)ʃ(ə)nəl/Australia/ˌɐnɪnˈtenʃənəl/

adjective

Inadvertent; unwitting.

“Near-synonyms: incidental; see also Thesaurus:accidental, Thesaurus:unintentional”

Less commonScrabble 13

Meanings

adjectiveunintentional (comparative more unintentional, superlative most unintentional)

comparative more unintentional · superlative most unintentional

  1. Not intended or deliberate; without intention or with not enough intention.
    1. Inadvertent; unwitting.

      Near-synonyms: incidental; see also Thesaurus:accidental, Thesaurus:unintentional

      2 more examples

      His omission of her name from the acknowledgments section was unintentional; it was fixed for the second print run.

      Review of systems was positive for unintentional weight gain of 13.5 kilograms in the last eight months, excessive fatigue, fever, difficulty focusing, one episode of painful oral ulcer on the roof of her mouth, change in the hair texture with nonscarring alopecia, shortness of breath with exertion, and constipation.

      2015 July 22, Reshma M. Khan et al., “Embolic Stroke as the Initial Manifestation of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus”, in Case Reports in Rheumatology, volume 2015, →DOI

      Synonyms: nonintentional, unintended, nonintentional, incidental, accidental, accidentary, adventitious, by accident · Antonyms: intentional, intentional, intended

    2. Unmindful.

      She kindly remonstrated us for allowing our yoga to be so unintentional; she reminded us that it is supposed to be more than mere absent-minded stretching.

      Synonyms: nonintentional · Antonyms: intentional

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveUnmindful.

Opposite
Narrower

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivedone or made or performed with purpose and intent

adjectivenot done with purpose or intent

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Englishintentional
  9. Englishunintentional

From un- + intentional.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian неумишлен
  • неумишлен (neumišlen)not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
Catalan involuntari
  • involuntarinot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
Chinese Mandarin 无意的, 无心的
  • 无意的not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • 无心的not intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
Czech neúmyslný
  • neúmyslnýnot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
Danish utiltænkt
  • utiltænktnot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
Dutch onbedoeld, onbedoelde
  • onbedoeldnot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • onbedoeldenot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
Esperanto senintenca, malintenca
  • senintencanot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • malintencanot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
Finnish tahaton
  • tahatonnot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
French inintentionnel
  • inintentionnelnot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
German unabsichtlich, unbeabsichtigt
  • unabsichtlichnot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • unbeabsichtigtnot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
Hungarian véletlen
  • véletlennot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
Māori pokerehū
  • pokerehūnot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
Norwegian Bokmål ufrivillig
  • ufrivillignot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
Spanish desintencionado, inintencionado
  • desintencionadonot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • inintencionadonot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • involuntarionot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • sin querernot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • sin proponérselonot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
  • non intencionalnot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting
Tagalog hindi sinasadya
  • hindi sinasadyanot intended or deliberate; inadvertent; unwitting

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with unintentional

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

unintentional. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unintentional

MLA

“unintentional.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unintentional. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unintentional,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unintentional.

Source: unintentional on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.